Stories and ramblings from the homefront as I adventure in the world of parenting, cooking, and books.

Treat Tuesday! 04.16.13

It’s Tuesday! I am joining in the fun, created by Niki at Daydream Reader, called Treat Tuesday, where we snap a quick photo of what we are reading and a treat we are enjoying. And thanks to Shannon (aka Ms. Houghton) for the meme logo seen above. Inspired by my Twitter pal, Maria, I’m including what my kids are enjoying as well. Follow all the treat fun on Twitter under the hash tag #TreatTuesday.

The Books and Our Treat!

The Treat — Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats

These are really, really, good. One extra ingredient (the salt) and just a few extra minutes to brown the butter before you add the marshmallows. Who knew those little tweaks would result in such deliciousness? Trust me, you’ll want to try the recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

Small (age 8, third grade)

You Only Die Twice (The Genius Files #3)by Dan Gutman. I picked up the ARC for this at the ALA Mid-Winter meeting while it was here in Seattle, but I hadn’t read the previous two titles in this The Genius Files series. I’ve heard great things about this series, and fondly recall reading Gutman’s Honus and Me to my fourth grade students when I taught. He’s a great storyteller! Over the spring break, Small devoured the first two books and is thrilled to have the latest in her hand. She is just adoring the exciting adventures, and of course gets a giggle out the main characters’ names of Coke and Pepsi.

Tall (age 11, fifth grade)

The Ghost of Blackwood Hall, by Carolyn Keene. I’m pretty sure this isn’t her first Nancy Drew title posted for Treat Tuesday. Like her mother, Tall, is an obsessed Nancy Drew reader. She, like me is partial to the “original” books, and not the spin-off series, or paperback only titles. She has a checklist to keep track of them. And she will admit that yes, Nancy does seem to get run off the road in her car or kidnapped in every book, but she doesn’t mind the formulaic plot. She tends to be a comfort reader, reveling in series books and re-reads. This morning for her birthday (which is 5+ months away, mind you), she asked for the rest of the Nancy Drew books that we don’t already own. I smiled and told her I’d be wrapping up her library card instead. 🙂

Me

Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. Okay, it’s April and spring is trying really, really hard to make an appearance here in Seattle, so why on earth am I reading a book set at Christmas time in New York City? Last week I was searching for book recommendations for my vacation time, and I’d heard good things about this title. Recently, I finished my first Levithan book, Every Day, which I enjoyed. The premise of this book also intrigued me,so I packed in my suitcase for the trip. Lily leaves a moleskin notebook tucked in the bookshelves at her favorite bookstore, and inside of it is a list of clues for a bookish scavenger hunt. Dash, finds the notebook and so begins their back and forth relationship that is communicated through this notebook and the challenges they put forth for each other in their clues. Through their writings, they both share and learn a lot about each other, and soon they begin to wonder if it will all hold up in “real life”. I’m hoping to finish this today, so I see what the future holds for the relationship of these two teens. At times the characters seem awfully precocious for their 16 years, but I’m willing to set that aside for the sake of the story. I love that Cohn and Levithan collaborated on this, with Cohn doing Lily’s chapters and Levithan writing Dash’s chapters. They passed the chapters back and forth to each other, which is just a bit like Lily and Dash in the book.

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One comment on “Treat Tuesday! 04.16.13”

Oh, I want to read Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares! Love Levithan! Check out Will Grayson, Will Grayson on audio! Great book by John Green and David Levithan. I also want to read Dan Gutman’s The Genius Files. Some of my second graders (almost 3rd graders) might like that series. 🙂